3
Forכִּיthereשָׁםour captorsשׁוֹבֵינוּasked usשְׁאֵלוּנוּfor wordsדִּבְרֵיof song,שִׁירand those who tormented usוְתוֹלָלֵינוּfor joy:שִׂמְחָה“Singשִׁירוּfor usלָנוּone of the songsמִשִּׁירof Zion.”צִיּוֹן
Psalms 137:3
Study it in the app“For there our captors asked us for words of song, and those who tormented us for joy: “Sing for us one of the songs of Zion.””
With the Hebrew beneath
Psalms 137:3, word by word
- our captorsשׁוֹבֵיshove
take captive
Take captive, carry off as prisoners in war.
Where else “shove” appears- asked usשְׁאֵלוּsheelu
ask for
To ask for something, or borrow.
Where else “sheelu” appears- for wordsדִּבְרֵיdivre
word
What someone says or announces, above all what YHWH says.
Where else “divre” appears- of songשִׁירshir
song
A composition sung with words and melody, to praise or celebrate.
Where else “shir” appears- and those who tormented usתוֹלָלֵיtolale
tormentors
Oppressor, one who makes others wail by mistreating them. It appears only in Psalm 137:3.
Where else “tolale” appears- for joyשִׂמְחָהsimcha
joy
Joy, gladness, celebration.
Where else “simcha” appears- “Singשִׁירוּshiru
sing
To give voice to a melody, to praise YHWH or to celebrate.
Where else “shiru” appears- of Zionצִיּוֹןtsiyon
Zion
See it on the mapWhere else “tsiyon” appears
Places in this verse
Zion
Today: Mount Zion hill, Jerusalem
A hill in Jerusalem; it first named the fortress David captured, and later sometimes the whole city.
David captured the stronghold of Zion and called it the city of David (2 Sam 5:7). The Psalms and prophets call it the place where God lives among his people (Ps 48:2).
The context
2On the willows in its midst we hung our lyres.
3 · This verse (above)
4How shall we sing the song of YHWH on foreign soil?